"I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Amen to Pursuit of Holiness..so far

Hi!

Recently I have been reading The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges. I am a big fan of older books and what I mean by that is, books that were written well before my time, 70s and back. I love the honesty and the truth that sprung from that time period and just the style of writing. After I finished That's Why They call Him Savior, I was randomly looking for a book and found The Pursuit of Holiness.

I am a redeemed reformed Christian woman. I knew before this book that God calls us into a Holy Life with him, but we are all still sinful by nature and therefore doomed to sin. Well Bridges seems to have a different take on a Holy Life that has convicted me beyond belief.

At the beginning of the book he states very plainly that, like I said before, Christians are called to a Holy Life, but why? He explains that we must be Holy because God himself is Holy and that Holiness is not an option. It says in Hebrews that, "without holiness no one sees the Lord." I want to see God and I want to live in a way that is pleasing to Him. Bridges goes on to say that, Holiness has to do with more than mere acts. Our motives must be Holy, that is, rising from a desire to do something simply because it is the will of God." Not only that but in the next chapter Bridges convicted me by saying that because Christ died to our sin, we are now set free. But since we have been a slave to our sin for so long our mortal body still sees itself as sinful, which causes us to continue to sin. Therefore making sin a choice.

At this point in the book I was convicted and ashamed. I needed to talk with God. I pleaded with God and repented for being so wrong and deceitful. Then I sat in silence and asked the Holy Spirit to speak to me. Through this much needed quiet time God revealed that He loves me in spite of my sin, yet He desires for me to a Holy child. What a great God do we have! One who is willing to love His children even though they are evil and constantly running away.

I applaud Jerry Bridges for his work, so far, in the Pursuit of Holiness. This book has given me a wake up call to a new life of Holiness, by God standards, not by the standards the world has set for us. Please pray for me, as I will for all of you, that we may live in Holiness, so that we can see our Lord and creator.

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I am a broken sinful person who has only been saved by the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord. I strive to be a faithful servant to Him, and somehow through all of my failures His love for me endures. My mission is to love, encourage, and enlighten all that I meet in order to share the Good News.